CDC Announces Awards to Help Fight Infectious Disease

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week that they are awarding almost $110 million to help states strengthen their ability to track and respond to infectious diseases. Increases in funding are going to foodborne-disease prevention and advanced molecular detection.

The funding is allocated through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement (ELC). Fifty-one million dollars is provided through the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund.

Infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response, public health labs, health information systems, and efforts to combat foodborne disease, zoonotic disease, and healthcare-associated infections are supported by this money. The CDC funds all 50 state health departments, eight territories or U.S. affiliates, and six local health departments (Chicago, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia).

Of that money, $17.4 million is allocated for foodborne disease prevention and tracking. This is an increase of $4 million over fiscal year 2014 funding. The money will help support PulseNet surveillance system, which tracks foodborne illness reports and helps establish outbreaks, and for the Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence.

Over $2 million will help states increase advanced molecular detection, that helps combine whole genome sequencing with bioinformatics. That will let officials identify and respond to outbreaks more quickly.